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Eating Together
Please refer to the conversation cards sheet above.
Dwelling Together
Isaiah 40: 1-15; 25-31 (NRSV)
1 Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God.
2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her that she has served her term, that her penalty is paid,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.
3 A voice cries out:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain.
5 Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for
the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
6 A voice says, “Cry out!”
And I said, “What shall I cry?”
All people are grass, their constancy is like the flower of the field.
7 The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the Lord blows upon it; surely
the people are grass.
8 The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand forever.
9 Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good tidings;
lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings,
lift it up, do not fear; say to the cities of Judah,
“Here is your God!”
10 See, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him;
his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.
11 He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms,
and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead the mother sheep.
12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand
and marked off the heavens with a span,
enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure,
and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance?
13 Who has directed the spirit of the Lord,
or as his counsellor has instructed him?
14 Whom did he consult for his enlightenment,
and who taught him the path of justice?
Who taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding?
15 Even the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are accounted as dust on the
scales; see, he takes up the isles like fine dust…
25 To whom then will you compare me, or who is my equal? says the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes on high and see: Who created these?
He who brings out their host and numbers them, calling them all by name;
because he is great in strength, mighty in power, not one is missing.
27 Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God”?
28 Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.
29 He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless.
30 Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted;
31 but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,
they shall mount up with wings like eagles,
they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.
Are there any details that stick out to you?
Do they highlight anything to you that you haven't noticed before?
Learning Together
General Questions: Do you often encounter ‘big questions’ from the people in your parish / context? What questions do they ask? What challenges do they raise?
Science & Faith
In the relationship of science and faith, the public perception is often one of conflict. The conflict view is reinforced by how our society increasingly discusses issues in terms of (apparent) opposites. It is fuelled by the loudest voices, which come from the extremes…But the conflict model between science and faith is much too simplistic, and its inevitability is much exaggerated.
An apologetic strategy based on challenging science is both unnecessary and likely to fail. By dismissing scientific knowledge, the church risks alienating both its own young people and seekers with scientific backgrounds… A better strategy is to engage with what science has to say. Perhaps surprisingly to some, this can reinforce belief in God.
David Jeans (2019) How to Talk Science and God: Biblical Perspectives on the Big Questions of Life and the Universe, Grove Mission and Evangelism no. 125, Cambridge, Grove Books, 3.
- How might science reinforce or strengthen belief in God?
Spiritual Needs
‘Spirituality is an integral and integrating force within humans, it is natural that expressions of spiritual need and distress are embedded in “everyday” conversation and behaviour… Yet, because spirituality is experienced deeply and inwardly, it is often spoken of without awareness or expressed using metaphors and other figures of speech. Thus, expressions that hint at one’s spirituality are vast and varied. For example:
- “I want to help others”
- “Everything happens for a reason”
- “My kids are my life”
- “I want to protect my family from seeing me suffer”
- “I love looking at the stars at night; they remind me of my place in the universe”
- “My job is so unimportant, sometimes I wonder why I do it”
- “I think God is trying to tell me something”
- “I’m afraid of going to sleep, afraid I might never wake up”
- “I don’t know what to believe any more”
Elizabeth Johnston Taylor (2007) What Do I Say? Talking with Patients about Spirituality, London, Templeton Foundation Press, 41-42.
- Do you encounter similar comments to the ones Taylor lists? Do you agree that these comments reveal spiritual needs?
Illness
I had never worried about my children being ill. It’s not something that had even occurred to me. Looking back, I’d never encountered sickness much. A child of a friend at swimming lessons had cancer and we prayed for him, but it never made me question anyone’s mortality. Just a few weeks before Ben was diagnosed we had to take Joe to the hospital for an appointment about the grommets he’d had in his ears. I remember seeing kids with feeding tubes up their noses and thinking, “Thank goodness that’s not my child.” Within months it was.
When you encounter sickness it makes you aware of how much sickness there is around. It’s a bit like buying a new car and suddenly noticing the same model everywhere. You become aware of how separated sick and disabled people can be by their illnesses and conditions; of how “normal” healthy people aren’t anywhere near as normal as you thought.
Now we were in hospital with a very sick child. With a child who could die.
Dave Luck (2017) What Happens Now? Maidstone, River Publishing, 7 & 23-24.
- If someone in your parish / context suffered this kind of life changing event, how might you begin answering their ‘big questions’, e.g. about life, death, love and God?
Group Activities
Looking at 'Big Questions' as expressions of spiritual needs: Pastoral responses to Questions and Challanges
When people ask ‘big questions’ and demand answers to difficult questions, the most helpful initial response is to listen to their concerns and respond pastorally. So, instead of trying to solve the “problem of evil” (for example), we might more helpfully ask:
- What is underneath or behind the challenge / question?
- What fears, hopes or longings have motivated it?
- What spiritual needs might the question reveal?
Small group activity (in twos or threes):
- Take a few cards each and look through the objections to Christian faith they raise.
- You might want to make additional cards if you can think of other objections you often come across…
Then take just one card and think through:
- What is underneath or behind the challenge / question?
- What fears, hopes or longings might have motivated it?
- What spiritual needs might it reveal?
- Given all this, how might you respond to the challenge / question?
Reflecting Together: Doing Apologetics Well
In his first letter, Peter advises his readers to be prepared to give an answer when they are asked to explain the hope they have, he also advises that the answer be given with gentleness and respect. (1 Peter 3:15-16)
The Greek word translated above as ‘answer’ is the word apologia. It’s used eight times in the New Testament. Technically speaking, it means a defence in a court of law, but it is also used to mean any reasoned argument to defend something / someone.
From this Greek word, we get the English word Apologetics.
Apologetics
Apologetics is the kind of word where if you ask five people what it means, you get six or seven different answers. We can tell from its definition that it has something to do with arguing about or defending the faith; but there are different views about what it might mean to do this well.
Here are some definitions of Apologetics:
- Apologetics is giving people reasons for why the Christian faith makes sense in a modern context, and responding to objections to belief (Coffey 2009: 7).
- Apologetics always takes place within a specific cultural context…An apologetic approach that was very productive in one context might prove much less effective, and perhaps counterproductive, in a different cultural environment (McGrath 2012: 27).
- Christians engage in apologetics because they want their neighbours to take Christianity more seriously than they otherwise might. Christians hope that their neighbours will decide to follow Jesus Christ, or to follow him more closely, as a result of such conversations (Stackhouse 2002: 86).
- Unfortunately, today the term apologetics has unpleasant connotations for many people. On a superficial level it sounds as if we are being asked to apologise for having faith. At a deeper level it may suggest an aggressive or opportunistic kind of person who resorts to fair means or foul in order to get people to accept his point of view (Ferguson and Wright 1988: 36).
- The defence and explanation of the Christian faith by intellectual reasoning (Geaves 2006: 7).
Group activity:
- Look through the definitions of Apologetics above.
- Which one feels most relevant or helpful to your context and ministry?
Key principles from John Stackhouse, Humble Apologetics (2002):
According to Stackhouse, we should:
- Take people’s questions and ideas seriously (Stackhouse, 2002: 168).
- Not exaggerate our own status or sources (Stackhouse, 2002: 169).
- ‘Show genuine appreciation of the other person’s good points’ (Stackhouse, 2002: 169).
- Be willing to be proved wrong (Stackhouse, 2002: 170).
- We need ‘to study, to devote ourselves regularly to the analysis of our culture and to a clear understanding of our own religion’ (Stackhouse, 2002: 178).
- ‘Concede all you can, affirm all you can, and argue as little as you need to’ (Stackhouse, 2002: 179, 168-170, 178-179).
- What one thing in Stackhouse’s ideas seems most helpful or relevant to your context?
- What one thing seems least helpful or relevant?
Reflecting Together: Key Points of Contact
Suggested content from Alister McGrath, Bridge Building: Effective Christian Apologetics (1992):
- God has laid the foundations for Christian knowledge in the human heart.
- We can exploit various ‘points of contact’ to demonstrate the rational basis of Christian belief. These ‘points of contact’ are similar to the spiritual needs we looked at earlier. They are the types of thing people often ask about or say, which reveal longings, hopes, openings, etc.
- There is a gap or gulf between the Gospel and the world.
- In bridging this gap (to reach people with the Gospel), we need to pay attention to the person and the context – to discern the ‘point of contact’ that will enable us to engage with them and the best method of engagement.
- There are six key ‘points of contact’:
- A sense of unsatisfied longing
- Human rationality
- The ordering of the world
- Human morality
- Existential anxiety and alienation
- Awareness of mortality
Group activity (in twos or threes):
- Match the ‘point of contact’ to the person’s statement.
- How might you respond to the person’s statement?
Praying Together
- Think about a person or place that has helped you when you’ve had doubts.
- Think about someone you know who is struggling with questions and doubts.
- Bring these people and places before the Lord in prayer.
- Write a letter to God, telling him about questions, doubts, and fears…